I don't own anything except any original/own characters and any original plot.

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Chapter 21- The Barton Residence
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"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch," Bruce reported, checking the monitors in the lab.

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Nat added.

(Y/n)'s heart felt as though it skipped a beat at the thought, but then she reminded herself that they didn't have much of her personal life on file. Not to mention her secret husband who was supposed to be dead.

"He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey asked.

"Nuclear codes," Hill stated.

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey nodded, "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say he wanted us dead," everyone looked at (Y/n), "He said he wanted us extinct, he wanted to wipe us, and any legacy we could leave behind, from the universe."

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added.

"But there wasn't anyone else in the building."

"Yes there was," Tony pulled up an image of JARVIS' destroyed consciousness.

"This is insane," Bruce shook his head.

"JARVIS was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense," Steve confirmed.

"No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is...rage," Bruce said, knowing the difference between the two.

Thor suddenly grabbed Tony by his throat, holding him up.

"Come on. Use your words, buddy," Tony advised.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor growled.

"Thor, we have other things we must focus on," (Y/n) put a hand on Thor's shoulder.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Great, just when another Infinity Stone was secure," (Y/n) sighed in frustration.

"The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" Dr. Cho asked.

Tony began to laugh.

"You think this is funny Stark?" (Y/n) asked, "You messed with an Infinity Stone, created a self running robot, and you think it's funny?"

"No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is. It's so terrible. But, it's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time to-"

"Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?" Tony cut Bruce off.

"Only when I've created a murder bot."

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD," Steve pointed out.

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?"

"No it's never come up," Rhodey said sarcastically.

"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but, that up there? That's...that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

"Together."

"We'll lose."

"Then we'll do that together, too," everything was silent before Steve spoke up again, "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

"I gotta make a call," Clint mumbled, taking out his phone and leaving the room.

"I have to as well," (Y/n) announced, leaving as well.

She walked past Clint into a separate meeting room. She opened her mouth to order JARVIS to darken the glass before she realized that JARVIS didn't exactly exist anymore. Instead, she raised her hand and dimmed the glass herself.

"Loki."

It looked as though millions of grains of sand were coming together to form Loki's figure. He was sitting on the throne, alone if he wasn't disguised as Odin.

"Darling," Loki perked up, grinning, "Are you coming home soon?"

(Y/n) sighed, running a hand over her face, "There's been...an incident. I may need to stay longer than I planned."

"Oh...How long?"

"I'm not sure. No longer than a month hopefully. We just need to deal with a new threat. I'll keep you updated."

"Good. I love you."

"I love you t-"

"(Y/n), we got something."

(Y/n) sighed, "I love you Loki."

She ended the call and left the room, undimming the windows. Steve respected her privacy and didn't ask who she was talking to. Clint joined the team soon after and she showed them a photo of Strucker, dead.

"What's this?" Tony asked.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker."

"This is a smokescreen," Nat stated, "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

"Because he knew something Ultron didn't want us to know," (Y/n)) mumbled.

Nat looked at the computer, "Yeah, everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"Not everything."

The team pulled out all of the physical files they had on Strucker. Which was several boxes to read through.

(Y/n) had several papers at a time in front of her face, reading them quickly before moving on to the next batch.

"Known associates. Well, Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Wait. I know that guy," Tony pointed at a photo Bruce was holding, "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms. There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very 'Ahab.'"

(Y/n) noticed something on Klaue's neck, "There, that's a brand."

Banner pulled up the symbol on his computer, "It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?"

"Wakanada? Wa...Wa...Wakanda."

"Wakanda," (Y/n) mumbled. She had visited the country years ago for educational purposes. They got their vibranium supply from a meteor that fell from Asgard after all. It was a lovely country.

"If that man took it from Wakanda it could end very badly," (Y/n) commented.

"I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?"

"The strongest metal on Earth."

"Where is this guy now?"

~*~

(Y/n) entered the shipyard cautiously. She wasn't going against the group directly unlike the others. She had made a mission of her own, get as close to Wanda and pietro as possible. She wanted to understand why exactly they were working against the Avengers, that their goal was.

"Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?"

(Y/n) peeked around the corner when she heard the accented voice.

"This was never my life."

"You two can still walk away from this."

"Oh we will."

(Y/n) wiggled her hand, furrowing her brows as she concentrated on drawing Wanda over.

Come on, come on, Wanda we need to have a little chat she thought to herself.

Wanda looked in her direction, whispering something to Pietro before she stepped out of the way of the fighting. She walked in (Y/n)'s direction, and the girls prepared herself in case Wanda was looking for a fight.

"You have telepathy too?" Wanda asked.

"I guess so," (Y/n) thought back to when she talked to Steve mentally, "But that isn't why I called you over here. I know your parents died, and based on how you glare at him, Stark's weapons were the cause of it."

"We waited two days for help, staring at their bodies," Wanda growled.

"I know, losing your parents hurts, but, Wanda, you know that Ultron has horrible intentions. He may help you get revenge but at what cost?"

"I'm willing to pay."

"Really? If you believed that entirely then you would have started a fight already. I can help you, you need help harnessing your powers, you and Pietro, you just have to trust me."

Wanda glanced behind (Y/n) and smirked. It was then she realized she had let her guard down for far too long. She felt something pick her up and throw her over the edge of the railing, ramming her into the ground.

She groaned, trying to regain her breath. While she was down, and while her vision was still blurred, she saw a flash of red go over her vision. Wanda was warping her reality. She tried to fight it, pulling out the power she could, but Wanda was more powerful than (Y/n) realized and she fell under.

"Darling."

(Y/n) turned around. Loki was lying on stony ground, dying. She knew, in her heart, that this was her doing. She got mad, over something that seemed so stupid. She lost control, like she promised she never would.

"Loki," (Y/n) ran to Loki's side, "I can bring you back, I-I can save you."

"Why would I want to be saved by the same person who killed me?"

(Y/n) whimpered as Loki fell limp in her arms. It was now that she noticed the screaming. She looked around her and her heart seemed to stop beating. Asgard, Earth, the universe, all of it was in ruins. She was completely alone in the universe, standing on empty space.

She knew, just as she had killed Loki, that she had done this as well. She had become a weapon destruction.

"(Y/n), Lady (Y/n). It isn't real. You must pull yourself from the illusion."

(Y/n) looked up from the nothingness, wiping her eyes and cheeks. The vision flashed, and she saw the shipyard. Then it flashed back. She looked down and Loki was gone.

"(Y/n)."

Her vision flashed again and she was back longer. One last flash and she was back entirely. (Y/n) rubbed her eyes, feeling the wetness of tears. She looked up at Thor.

"Did you get one too?"

"The stone was at the center of destruction. I need to investigate this."

"Yes, we'll gather to team again then you can go."

Thor held out his hand and helped (Y/n) stand. As they searched for the rest of the team Thor asked a touchy question.

"What was your vision of?"

(Y/n) paused, debating what to say, "A broken promise."

~*~

"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air."

(Y/n) put a hand on Bruce's shoulder, sitting down next to him.

"It wasn't your fault," she assured, "You were under a power even I couldn't get out of."

Bruce nodded, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

(Y/n) stood, wanting to give Bruce the alone time she knew he would need. She took her own seat, opening her palm and pulling up a hologram of Loki. Even just seeing him calmed her down.

"I miss him too, sister."

(Y/n)'s eyes snapped up to meet Thor's. She smiled, holding back the urge to tell him that Loki was alive and well.

"I just wish he were here," she whispered, "Everything would be better."

"Yes, I suppose it would."

~*~

After a few hours the Quinjet landed outside of a large farmhouse. The team walked off of the ship and towards the house, following Clint's lead. It didn't take long for (Y/n) to figure out that this was where Clint's family lived.

"What is this place?" Thor asked, "A safe place?"

"Let's hope," Clint walked into the house, "Honey, I'm home."

Laura exited the kitchen, smiling brightly before her eyes landed on the rest of the team.

"Hi. Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead."

"Hi," Laura said awkwardly.

"Guys, this is Laura."

"I know all you rnames," Laura stated.

"Oh this is lovely," (Y/n) noticed that Laura was obviously pregnant, "May I?"

Laura nodded and (Y/n) placed her hands on Laura's stomach.

"He's healthy," (Y/n) smiled.

"How is little Natasha?" Nat asked, walking towards the two.

"She's...Nathaniel."

"Traitor," Nat muttered, directed towards Laura's stomach.

(Y/n) felt a tug on the fabric of her armor. She looked down and sawa little girl, looking up at her with large eyes.

"Will you play with us Miss (Y/n)?"

(Y/n) grinned, looking up at Laura for permission.

"Go ahead," Laura smiled kindly, "You can distract them."

(Y/n) followed the girl out into the field behind the house where Clint's son was waiting.

"I'm Lila, and that's Cooper."

"Nice to meet you two. What games would you like to play? Frost Giants? Bladgerforn?"

The two kids stared at her in confusion and (Y/n) remembered that Midgardian games were different than Asgardian.

"Um...Pirates?"

"Yeah pirates!"

(Y/n) laughed and grabbed a few sticks from the ground nearby, turning them into fake swords. They started out playing pirates, but halfway through (Y/n) stopped and began to teach them how to use swords properly.

Thor came by to wish her goodbye and she wished him luck in his quest to find answers. After that, she played with the two until they were all called in for dinner. For a short while, (Y/n) forgot that they were here because of a disaster. She was happy.

"You ready for kids after dealing with those two all day?" Nat asked when they entered the house.

(Y/n) looked at the two kids with a smile, "Yeah, I think I am."